Agree with most comments above. No one really uses "Objective" section anymore. Not sure if this would help you, but on my resume I did have a "Skills" section, but made sure it was packed with everything I could do at the time as a new grad (see below, my apologies if formatting doesn't transfer). You could include something like that, tailored to what you can do. I know it helped me to land a job....also, as a previous poster mentioned, you should include info on your clinical rotations, even as a list. I know it helped me because the person who hired me liked that I had already a bit of experience at particular hospitals. It turned out that the position for which I was applying involved some interaction with staff at those hospitals on a regular basis. Finally, make sure your verb tenses make sense in your position description. The description of your current position should include present tense indicating that you still perform these tasks and the previous positions should be past tense. Good luck.

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On my resume, I don't have an objective. Instead, I have a Professional Profile. That's where I summarize what I bring to the table as an applicant. It's like an abstract for my resume. All the interviewer has to do is read the profile and they know exactly who I am and what I can do.

My professional profile would be nowhere near that impressive- which is obvious because you have much more experience than I have.

I don't have my ASN yet and I have minimal hospital training. I worked at an LTAC facility as an agency nurse for about a month before I found full time work at my LTC facility. The majority of my clinical rotations in school did occur at a few hospitals, one of them being the LTAC I mentioned earlier.

Right now, I work the rehab to home unit- lots of wounds, g-tubes, IVs, foleys, with hospice care on occasion. In the LTAC, a lot of them were on contact isolation but my duties were essentially the same except the patients were much sicker.

As a floor nurse, I have supervisory duties over the CNAs and I am a member of the Admissions Committee. I am able to function appropriately in a crisis, most recently demonstrated on Thursday. I am BLS certified but not IV certified because I'm not an RN. (My facility chose to only certify the RNs.) I've thought about going outside my facility to get this done.

The other information you supplied is really good, too. It's certainly different from what I've been taught, too.

I know one typically needs acute care experience to get into hospitals, but how can I get the experience without someone taking that risk? Ultimately, I want to be a nurse practitioner in an ICU-type setting. I've been told Med-Surg is the first step. I just need to get there.

My professional profile would be nowhere near that impressive- which is obvious because you have much more experience than I have.

You work with what you have. I have less than one year of experience at one job as an RN. But by reading my profile, you'd think I have a lot more, right? That's because I've sold myself well and highlighted things that are important to employers.

Have you oriented a new employee? You've got experience training new employees. Have you acted as charge nurse? Then you have leadership experience. Did you do clinicals in a hospital? Then that's hospital training. Outpatient clinics? Community health experience. Did you lead any committees or groups? Then you have administrative experience.

Here's the professional profile from my graduate nurse resume which was tailored toward pediatric positions. :

Motivated and compassionate nursing candidate with hospital and clinical training. Highly organized with well-regarded administrative and supervisory strengths. Will graduate in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and Minor in General Psychology. Exceptional academic record and clinical skills. Over 240 hours of pediatric clinical rotations and one year of pediatric home care experience. Over 400 hours of Medical/Surgical clinical experience.

now, I work the rehab to home unit- lots of wounds, g-tubes, IVs, foleys, with hospice care on occasion. In the LTAC, a lot of them were on contact isolation but my duties were essentially the same except the patients were much sicker.

As a floor nurse, I have supervisory duties over the CNAs and I am a member of the Admissions Committee. I am able to function appropriately in a crisis, most recently demonstrated on Thursday. I am BLS certified but not IV certified because I'm not an RN. (My facility chose to only certify the RNs.) I've thought about going outside my facility to get this done.

You can make this experience look great on a resume. There are wounds, G-tubes, IV's and foleys in acute care. Anything else (drains? Wound- VACs? Tracheostomies? External Fixators?) There are also CNA's that you'll supervise in the hospital. You'll have to time manage and care for sick patients. What are some of the diagnoses of the sickest patients you care for? Be sure to mention those diagnoses when you talk about your work experience.

I know one typically needs acute care experience to get into hospitals, but how can I get the experience without someone taking that risk? Ultimately, I want to be a nurse practitioner in an ICU-type setting. I've been told Med-Surg is the first step. I just need to get there.

You get hospitals to take a chance on you by making it as clear as possible on your resume that, while you may not have worked in a hospital, you have the equivalent of acute care experience. That's why you spell out specifically what skills you perform (these are performed in acute care), what types of patients you've cared for (you'll care for the same ones in acute care), what skills you have- leadership, training, crisis management, advocacy- (you'll need those in a hospital).

You don't need to list situations. Meaning don't describe the emergency that happened on Thursday in your resume. Say that you have the ability to "calmly and quickly intervene during a medical emergency" and save the story for the interview.

I agree, "assessment" isn't in the LPN scope of practice in MN (where I live) either. I think you could use 'evaluation' (I can't recall for sure what the preferred term is). As for the GPA, since most schools use a 4.0 range, you only need your actual GPA; some places will have a certain GPA or higher as "graduated with honors" and if that's the case, it can be listed.

Hi, I have been a public health nurse for close to 3 yrs now. I have my BSN and RN and went straight into public health as a new grad. I am ready to go into the hospital setting and I am putting my resume together. Was it difficult to get into the hospital? I am trying to gather my thoughts into paper as to the skills that I performed(wound care, wound VAC therapy, caring for IV lines, G tube, trach etc). I guess my concern is that would they look at my resume and application as i have no hospital experience as a RN but I did work in the hospital for 4 yrs as a companion/nurse extern before graduating. Help!!

Ashley, I was reading your comments and they are very helpful. As I stated in my previous comment, I am trying to develop my professional profile but I am having difficulty in articulating what i want to say. Any idea?

Ashley has given excellent advice. I used to be on a hiring board for my old career and there is a big difference between writing compellingly about all the cool stuff you can do vs. having a generic description.

QUOTE "Right now, I work the rehab to home unit- lots of wounds, g-tubes, IVs, foleys, with hospice care on occasion. In the LTAC, a lot of them were on contact isolation but my duties were essentially the same except the patients were much sicker.

As a floor nurse, I have supervisory duties over the CNAs and I am a member of the Admissions Committee. I am able to function appropriately in a crisis, most recently demonstrated on Thursday. I am BLS certified but not IV certified because I'm not an RN. (My facility chose to only certify the RNs.) I've thought about going outside my facility to get this done. "

This part sounds better than your resume, in my opinion. Re-write it so it still sounds formal but more like that.

Also, really look at whether hospitals are hiring LPNs and if they are for what positions. Maybe stressing organization vs flexibility will help you, or visa versa?Maybe they are only looking for a special skill? Have you also written a cover letter that makes you sound like a passionate quick learner who will be a leader in her field and impress everyone? Does it scan well? (because no one actually reads it perfectly) I think a lot of places look for people who can communicate well--including delegating-- and really take responsibility for the well being of their patients.